The saffron, green & white colors sparkled as the royal
cloth which was embellished by a big blue wheel tried to push the wind and raise
itself amidst cheer and hustle bustle on a usually quiet Tuesday morning at my
college. People smiled and congratulated each other 60 years of Republican life.
I noticed that the flag tried hard but could not battle out the wind; it was not
upright and in fact never so, since I have ever seen it. Eyes were glistening as
I imagined the triumphant valor with which the loyalists had fought to give us
the Republic. This year there were not many events. I wondered whether people
had slowly got used to the ritual every year.
As I fell into my reverie, I heard some teachers discussing
household stories, while some patriotic songs were being played. Classical
singers were singing meticulously with technical perfection, but they were half
note off the key of patriotism. As their lyrics were chanting praises of their
nation, they were aware of their cousins sleeping soundly in UK or returning
from their offices in US. Some teacher was talking about how difficult it was to
tell the household lady to come today since some guests were expected for lunch.
Joshi Sir was complaining that many students were dozing off
this year, and some others who were there marked their attendance and gleefully
joined their friends at the nearby restaurant. I recognized Prof. S.K. Verma ,
our maths teacher’s sleepy voice when he said ‘Being a holiday, it’s the best
time to visit relatives.’ One retired teacher didn’t agree much since her son
and daughter-in-law had taken the 4 days to enjoy their beach vacation to
Konkan….’ she began describing the beauty of Konkan. Some teachers were yawning
in between… And students cared less. While I could actually visualize Mister and
his wife coming back, making the best of their ‘long weekend’ looking as happy
and proud as the patriots who made us Republic.
Back home, I had hunted for the definition of ‘Republic’. A
form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch [1] (the second
meaning is funnier!) , the people (or at least a part of its people,hehe!)[2]
have an impact on its government. Wikipedia laughed at my ignorance! But the
problem was that little did smart Wiki know that more than 1 billion people in
my country were still ignorant of this meaning.
Meanwhile, our saffron friend was perched up the sky and could
not agree more with my thoughts. I realized that it was a holiday and
celebration for us, but for him it was a ritual every year. For over 60 years he
had battled the winds of poverty, destitution, inequity. Storms of change pushed
him down. Corruption, Cruelty & and Politics tried to block his way.
Illiteracy ignored him. Still he managed to keep his head up. Furthermore he was
bent down with the weight of injustice, inequality & discrimination. Inspite
of being risen in the largest democracy in this world, our friend had no voice.
Where was his freedom to speak, express & change? The part of the public who
had formed the republican had never represented his concerns. And with the
little remaining life in him, he held the pride in being called the honour of a
developing nation.
‘Ma , what did we get Freedom from?’, asked the Kulkarni
maam’s daughter. Her mother was lost in thought.
The national anthem rang clear. And the whole audience stood in
rapt attention till it ended. (this is the only privileged moment when you don’t
feel the population of the country!) With every word of the national oath, I
realized that all these years we had celebrated freedom from an individual; our
minds were still fettered. As the peons started distributing sweets, the public
started dispersing back to their life of depending on their so-called
‘independence.
